Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

After being dominated by the Crusaders scrum, the Waratahs have issued a warning to their next NZ opponents

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

NSW Waratahs front rower Harry Johnson-Holmes has warned the Blues could pay the price for underestimating his team’s scrum, if they target him because of his lack of experience at tighthead prop.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 22-year-old is available for Saturday’s match being played in his home city of Newcastle, after he missed the opening round clash away to the Crusades due to illness.

The Tahs had some issues with the scrum on the weekend, with coach Matt Cockbain admitting as much.

Johnson-Holmes, who won his sole Wallabies cap last year, will add more depth, even though he is likely to play in an unfamiliar position.

He spent most of last year at loosehead but has switched to the other side of the scrum with Waratahs and Wallabies’ stalwart Sekope Kepu moving overseas.

Continue reading below…

Video Spacer

“I’ve flipped over to tighthead to help out their stocks there which I’ve been very excited about,” he said.

“I’m obviously going to need to have a few lessons there, I suppose there might be some days where I’m under the pump a bit.

ADVERTISEMENT

“But we’ve been training to problem solve on the go.

“Whilst new at tighthead I’ve got the experience there from the training paddock and blokes like Belly (scrum coach Mark Bell ) and the other lads helping me out to come up with the goods.”

Asked if he thought the Blues might target him he said: “I’d imagine so. I don’t think there’s a lot of footage (of me at tighthead) for them to check out,” Johnson-Holmes said.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B79fFbyAZeS/

“But I think that could work in my favour if they are underestimating how we’re going to work as a front row. I’ve been pretty happy with how we’ve scrummaged pre-season.”

Lock/blindside flanker Ned Hanigan missed the Crusaders game with concussion and Cockbain said the Tahs were taking a cautious approach with him, even though the forward had been cleared by a specialist.

ADVERTISEMENT

He expected Wallabies backrower Jack Dempsey to push for a starting spot soon, after providing impact off the bench last weekend.

The Blues will also be coming off a first-round loss and Cockbain said the Tahs were preparing for what the described as that side’s brand of organised chaos.

“That ability to counter attack, they can all run and pass the ball very well,” Cockbain said.

– AAP

Bernard Foley really looks to have found his level for Kubota Spears in the Japanese Top League:

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline? Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?
Search